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Chapter Nineteen

“Beau, get over to Simon’s house right now.”

“Roan? What’s going on?” I said into my phone.

“Just get here now .”

He hung up.

I had a really bad feeling. Kai’s phone was ringing and as soon as he answered it, his eyes got hard. He stood up from his half-eaten meal we’d been having at the Down Home Diner. He shoved his phone in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He threw down more than enough money to cover our meals and tips.

“Let’s go. You’re riding with me,” he commanded.

I followed him toward the front of the diner.

“Boys, you take care of yourselves. I’ll say a prayer.” Little Grandma said from her perch beside the hostess stand.

I looked over my shoulder at her as we were exiting. Kai grabbed my shirt and pulled me out the door. As soon as we were on the sidewalk, he started running toward his truck.

This is bad. Really bad.

I had a premonition.

As soon as we were in Kai’s truck, I took out my cell phone.

“Call Maddie,” I said, giving the voice command to my phone.

“Don’t bother, she won’t answer.” Kai told me. I looked over at him. He had that look on his face. The look that all special operators got when they were going into hostile territory. It was his game face.

It displayed nothing except focus and determination.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

“I know nothing more than Maddie’s been taken and we need to get over to Simon’s house.”

“It’s a fifteen-minute drive. Tell me who I can call for answers before we get there.” My voice was harsh.

“I got my call from Simon. He was clear he’d tell me when I got there.”

“Well, Roan can damn well tell me something now, if this is about Maddie.” I was already pressing in his number.

“I told you to get here,” Roan growled when he answered.

“Kai’s driving. You’re on speaker. Give us the rundown while we’re in the car to save time when we get there.”

“I’ll conference in Jase. He’s on his way.”

I waited for what seemed like hours, but it was less than a minute.

“Okay, here’s the sit rep,” Roan started. “The Blood Ravens, do you remember them, Beau?”

“Yeah, they’re the biker gang, the one-percenters, out of Chicago. You planned to snatch one of their brothers. Did you do that?”

“Yep, the operation went down perfectly. They had no idea who took him, or so we thought,” Roan answered.

“Wait a minute, I was in on that job,” Kai interrupted. “We were clean as a whistle. We followed through on that embezzlement job and got him, because we knew they wouldn’t know who we were.”

“The woman, the embezzler, she knew that her company used Onyx Security,” Roan interrupted.

“So? Who was she going to tell? Her brother was already with the C.P.D. and the company and the D.A. were happy.” Kai sounded confused as he pressed down on the accelerator, sending us twenty miles over the speed limit.

“Her ex-husband is a member of the Blood Ravens. That’s who she told,” Roan explained.

I couldn’t stand it a minute longer. “I don’t get it. What does this have to do with Maddie?”

“They kidnapped Maddie. They want to exchange her for Bishop, the one who’s in jail awaiting trial,” Roan answered.

I felt bile rise in my throat, but I pushed it down. “Why Maddie?” I kept my voice even.

“Maddie took some time off and was meeting Trenda at her and Simon’s house. Trenda left the key under the mat for her so she could get in while she picked up Bella at school. Maddie was at the house alone when the Blood Ravens busted in and mistook her for Trenda. They left a message saying they wanted to trade. We need everyone here to see if we can find anything that might give us a lead as to where they might have taken her.”

“Did you get it on film?” Kai asked.

“Simon said that he only got film on the outside,” Roan answered. “Apparently he doesn’t film inside the house, even after the alarm goes off.”

“Do you know the license plate of the vehicle they took her in?” I asked.

“It was covered with mud. I’ve had Nash put an APB out on the make, model, and color. He’s agreed not to come to the scene for the first hour.” I’d met the sheriff, so I knew who Roan was talking about.

“How’s Trenda?” Jase asked.

“Not good,” was Roan’s curt response. “But Simon’s with her.”

“We’ll be there in five,” Kai said. “Is there anything else?”

“Nope. Just get here.”

* * *

I looked down at the glass shards covered in blood. I swallowed, then swallowed again. I hadn’t been sick on a mission since my second. But this was close. This was Maddie’s blood. Some bastard had dragged Maddie over broken glass.

“You, okay?” Kai whispered the question.

I nodded. It was all I could do.

I’d already seen the message written in Maddie’s blood.

I stomped out of the living room, my boots crunching on the broken glass, hoping that the shards would slice through the tough leather and cut me as well.

When I got to the deck, I grabbed at the railing for dear life as I looked out over the empty land in front of me. I sucked down the fresh air, praying it would save me. Taking solace in the fact that somewhere out in this big, wide world, Maddie was breathing the same air as I was.

I knew deep in my gut she was still alive. Not just because the gang needed her for a trade, but because she was my soulmate, and I knew the moment she stopped breathing, so would I.

“Come inside,” Roan said. “Simon has the video of the outside perimeter loaded so it can play on the TV.”

I nodded and again walked through the glass and joined everybody else who was standing in front of the family TV set.

Trenda had taken the baby when she’d gone to pick up Bella and take her over to Renzo and Millie Drako’s farm. Renzo, Jase’s brother, had previously worked in the government and was more than capable of protecting the women if necessary.

Before Simon started the video, he turned to me. “Brace, Beau. This isn’t good.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Start it,” I commanded.

The video started when two men dressed in leathers, wearing Blood Raven cuts, were holding guns and had obviously just shot through the patio door. That must have been what triggered the outside camera to start filming.

One man with a bandana over part of his face reached in and opened the door. He went inside. There was no sound on the video, but there was a clock running in the bottom corner of the video. After a minute and twenty seconds, the one who remained outside shouted something. I imagined Maddie inside being dragged through the glass. According to the clock on the bottom of the video, another fifty seconds went by, and the man shouted something again. This time, over three minutes went by, then the first man came out, holding Maddie upright by her ponytail. She was covered in blood. She opened her mouth to scream.

No! Don’t do it! I shouted in my mind.

The bastard holding her slammed his fist into the side of her head. I watched in horror as he let go of her and she dropped in a heap at his feet. She wasn’t moving, not a bit. Both men looked down at her coldly.

The one who had done the yelling turned and reached into a duffle bag that was lying beside him. On the back of his cut was the name Bishop. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and tossed it to Maddie’s attacker.

The man I planned to kill.

The name on his cut was Grizz.

Grizz put duct tape over Maddie’s mouth, taped up her arms behind her back, and then wrapped the tape around her knees. I took two steps closer to the TV and crouched down in front of it, looking to see if Maddie made any movement.

“There! Did you see it? She moved her legs.” I pointed to the screen.

“I saw it,” Kai said.

The other guy pulled a blanket out of the duffel bag and shook it out. A second blanket fell onto the deck.

“Motherfucker,” Simon whispered.

I frowned.

He handed Grizz the blanket then picked up the other one and shoved it into his bag.

Shit ! No wonder Simon was pissed. The second blanket had been for Bella.

Grizz wrapped Maddie in the blanket, then tossed her over his shoulder. He and Bishop walked back into the house to get to the front door, where it would be easier to get to their car.

The screen went black.

“Hold on,” Simon said tightly. “I’ll switch it to the next video feed.”

It took a moment, but then we saw Grizz coming out the front with Maddie still over his shoulder. Her blanketed body looked so small against his big shoulder. Nobody would guess that he was carrying a woman.

Bishop popped the trunk of the Buick and Grizz dumped her in the trunk like she was a sack of potatoes.

I was now going to make his death five minutes longer than I had originally planned.

He slammed the trunk shut and got into the passenger side. Bishop made a three-point turn in front of the house, then drove down the long driveway and took a right turn, heading for the highway.

“That’s all there is,” Simon growled.

“Maybe Nash will find something,” Jase said.

“He’s going to find that car on the side of the road somewhere. Empty. For sure, they have another car waiting for them,” Roan said.

My friend was right. I might not be into civilian investigation, but if I was in their shoes, that’s what I would figure.

“They’re going to want to be on their home turf, aren’t they?” I asked Simon.

Simon nodded.

“So, Chicago?” I asked.

“Yeah. They know their man, Skid, is locked up in Chicago. So, I’m sure that’s where they’re going to make the trade,” Simon confirmed. “Beau, how solid are you? Can you keep it together if we take you with us?”

“I dare you not to.” I glared at the older man. I knew he thought he could act like my commander, but only my captain gave me orders, so Simon better back the fuck off. Simon must have seen my determination, because he just nodded.

“Roan, you stay here. I need you to coordinate things along with Nolan. Once that’s done, get to the office and start the normal searches. Jase and Kai, you’ll fly up to Chicago and get us situated. Roan will have something figured out by the time you land. Beau and I will drive to Chicago now. If we get any sightings, we can stop them on the way.”

“They’re going to be mostly on I-65 and I-75 if they want to make good time,” Kai pointed out.

My stomach lurched. Maddie could die in that trunk with tape over her mouth if she threw up.

“We’ve got to find her before she leaves Tennessee,” I said hoarsely. “She can’t survive a trip that long in a trunk.”

Kai put his hand on my shoulder. “They need her in good shape for proof of life, bro. When they switch cars, they’ll get her out of the trunk.”

I looked into eyes that were identical to mine, except they had confidence shining in them. Kai nodded. “I’m not lying to you, Beau. They’re going to keep her alive. We’ve got time.”

I nodded. Time was a luxury I didn’t believe in anymore. But I’d take every second I could get for her. I had no other choice but to believe him. Anything else would kill me.